


The Cause Of My Euphoria

by bubble_bobb



Category: ATEEZ (Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crying, Dialogue Heavy, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I'm Bad At Summaries, Love Confessions, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Pride, Secret Crush, Texting, minho's bi, not beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-10-01 21:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20414215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubble_bobb/pseuds/bubble_bobb
Summary: When Minho went to a pride parade when he was 19 he didn't expect to find the love of his life on the way back.





	The Cause Of My Euphoria

**Author's Note:**

> hello  
hope you enjoy  
let me know what you think by commenting or leaving kudos <3 (feel free not to do anything)  
ok, see you next time <3
> 
> (Title: BTS; Euphoria)

_Minho sighs happily, looking out of the window with his head supported by his hand. Another good day has passed without much trouble. He's been meeting only great people ever since he attended his first pride parade and he couldn't be more thankful for that.  
  
It was hard at first, of course. He didn't have many people he could talk to about his sexuality and problems because he was scared they wouldn't understand, but his family was always supportive of him and he loved them very much.  
  
With a smile on his face he looks around the bus, there is an old lady sitting at the front talking to the driver, who, occasionally, replies to her and he can hear a few teenage kids at the very back giggling to themselves about something.  
  
He looks to the left of him and frowns.  
  
A few seats away from his own is a boy about his age, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he frantically tries to rub off the rainbow colors on his cheek. _

_Was he on pride too? _

_Minho's expression soon changes from confused to sad when the boy sobs quietly, a tear rolling down his, now red, cheek.  
  
Minho looks down and then at his backpack, his eyes widening a little when he remembers the wet wipes he put there before he left his house. He trashes through his backpack before he lays his hands on them and pulls them out with a smile. He looks at the boy again, he feels really bad for him.  
  
He knows what it's like to be scared to show up somewhere, looking like your true self.  
  
He shifts from the window seat closer and looks around before moving to sit next to the boy.  
  
"Hey."  
  
He says softly, catching the crying boy's attention. He looks at Minho, teary eyed and cheek burning red with the colors blended into each other, creating a colorful mess that is not very pleasant to look at. Minho likes the rainbow better.  
  
Minho hands him the wipes without a word spoken between them, keeping his eyes locked with him as he reaches back for his backpack that's on his previous seat, pulling it closer.  
  
"Do you mind?"  
  
He asks and the other only shakes his head. He looks down at the wipes Minho gave him and almost bursts into full crying, making Minho tense up a little.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
He chokes out and Minho waves his hand at him.  
After a while, the boy rubs the paint off completely (with Minho's help), his cheek still a little red from the pressure he gave it earlier.  
  
He clenches the dirty and now almost dry tissues in his hand, glancing at Minho nervously. He looks out of the window quickly after he locks eyes with him again.  
  
"Thank you, again."  
  
He mumbles under his breath and Minho smiles.  
  
"No problem."  
  
Minho says, leaning back into the seat and sighing. He still has a long way before he gets home, he may as well get to know this guy, he seems cool enough. Minho looks to the side at the other, a soft smile still on his face.  
  
"What's your name, by the way?"  
  
"Seonghwa, Park Seonghwa."  
  
He mumbles again without hesitation, louder this time. Minho looks at him little surprised that he gave him his name so quickly but smiles warmly. He chuckles to himself after a second, the name somehow fits him more than anything else. It's kind of cute too, a pretty name.  
  
"I'm Minho, Lee Minho."  
__  
  
  
  
  
_"Boooring."  
  
San exclaims and Minho rolls his eyes at him, leaning over the table closer to the boy. He narrows his eyes, looking at San through his long lashes.  
  
"As if yours was any better."  
  
"It is!"  
  
San defends, placing both of his hands down onto the table, almost knocking down his coke. Minho rolls his eyes again and crosses his arms on his chest as he leans back into the chair. He laughs quietly.  
  
"Meeting someone on tinder isn't better than meeting them in real life."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
San groans, taking his coke and sipping from it. Minho takes his own, looking at San with a cocky smirk and a small shrug of his shoulders. He looks down at his phone, hoping to finally get a message from Seonghwa, he promised to text him right when he gets home from work.  
  
"Anyway, when are you planning on telling him?"  
  
Minho cocks his eyebrow at him with wide eyes.  
  
"Not any time soon, obviously."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
San whines and Minho feels like melting into the ground when the cashier looks at them with a confused look on her face.  
  
"Are you stupid? He has enough stress from work, I can't have him angry or tired when I tell him, as I'm not planning on doing so anyway."  
  
Minho hisses and San rolls his eyes, whispering a quiet "coward" under his breath. Minho looks down while shaking his head, his eyes fixated on his opened conversation with Seonghwa.

When is he coming home again?

Suddenly San yelps and Minho looks up in confusion.  
  
He rolls his eyes again when he sees Hongjoong standing behind the younger, covering his eyes with his hands and grinning down at him. San takes the boy's hands into his, smiling widely.  
  
"Joong hyung!"  
  
He says loudly, catching the attention of a few other people walking and sitting nearby. He really is a loud one. He stands up to wrap his arms around the smaller boy tightly.  
  
"Hey babe."  
  
Hongjoong says, smiling and holding San's waist with a gentle grip. Minho almost feels jealous that one of the very first people he ever talked to that wasn't his family, a friend so close he could consider him his brother, has a boyfriend, but he's happy for him, obviously. Hongjoong quickly moves to sit on the chair, pulling San into his lap.  
  
San turns to look at him, cupping his cheeks and quickly pecking his lips. They hear a disgusted gag from the other side of the table and they separate from each other, glancing at Minho. San glares at the older as he makes himself more comfortable on the other's thighs.  
  
Hongjoong sneaks his arms around San's waist from behind him and looks at Minho with a warm and bright smile. He nods at him as a sign of a greeting and Minho does the same. Hongjoong is honestly one of the nicest people he has ever met and he can't bring himself to have something against him.  
  
"We were just talking about you."  
  
Minho says with a grin. Hongjoong looks at them with slightly wider eyes and chuckles.  
  
"Really? What were you saying?"  
  
He says, looking between San and Minho with his eyebrows raised. Minho clears his throat and opens his mouth to talk, motioning between Hongjoong and San.  
  
"How you and-"  
  
"Praising you for being a good boyfriend."  
  
The younger cuts him off, talking through gritted teeth.  
  
"Right Minho hyung."  
  
He hisses and Minho laughs, nodding his head. Hongjoong laughs, squeezing San tighter. He reaches for and sips from San's coke before San takes it from him to drink it himself.  
  
"That's really nice of you to say but I know you weren't talking about me, so tell me, what were you _really_ talking about?"  
  
Hongjoong says and San almost chokes, coughing out his drink. Minho starts laughing, trying his best to hide it behind his hand but knowing it's not working when San turns to him and glares at him again.  
  
"Anyways," San smiles back at Hongjoong. "We were talking about Minho hyung's huge crush on Seonghwa hyung and that he's too much of a coward to tell him."  
  
Minho grits his teeth, switching his eyes between San and Hongjoong. Hongjoong turns to him with wide eyes and a questioning look in his eyes and face.  
  
"You like Seonghwa? _The_ Park Seonghwa?,"  
  
Minho nods his head almost shyly and Hongjoong grins. San looks at Minho knowingly, a smirk making it's way onto his face.  
  
"That's great! Actually, I think I could help you a little."  
  
Minho makes a surprised noise and Hongjoong chuckles again. He nods and Minho's eyes shine with hope. He never wanted to hug Hongjoong so bad in his life.  
  
"I'm not gonna tell him, you have to do that yourself, but I will tell you that he's very easy going and emotional when it comes to that stuff. He may take a few minutes or hours to actually take in what's being said to him but he'll respond. Try to use that to your own good."  
  
The smile falls off Minho's face but he nods. He understands that Hongjoong can't be the one telling Seonghwa about his feelings. It has to be him. He thanks Hongjoong quickly, looking down when his phone buzzes.  
  
**°Hwa°:** im home :)))  
**°Hwa°:** wanna come over?  
  
Minho's heart drops and the smile reappears on his face as he types his reply.  
  
**Min:** ofc :)))  
  
He slowly stands up, putting his phone back into his pocket before looking up at the other two boys sitting there. He smiles politely at them, waving his hand and saying his goodbye. He soon takes off running to the nearest coffee shop to pick himself and Seonghwa up a cup of coffee.

When he's done and is standing outside the shop again he looks around before crossing the street and making his way to Seonghwa's house. A few sips from his coffee later he gets to his destination, his hands shaking as he rings the bell.

His expression softens when Seonghwa opens the door with a wide smile, saying his name a little too loudly. Minho slips inside with Seonghwa following him into his room.  
  
"I bought us some coffee."  
  
Minho says as he sits down onto the carpeted floor of Seonghwa's room, handing Seonghwa his cup. The other takes it with slightly wider eyes as he sits onto his bed.  
  
"Oh my, I love you."  
  
Seonghwa giggles as he brings it to his lips and takes a long sip. Minho shudders at that but decides not to comment on it. They've been best friends for over two years now and Seonghwa said those three words to him very regularly, but it hurt Minho because he knew they didn't actually mean anything to the older.

The older pets the spot next to him on the bed, looking at Minho with his eyebrows raised. Minho only shakes his head, sitting a little more comfortably on the floor. Seonghwa shrugs and moves closer to sit next to Minho. He looks at him before laying his head on his shoulder, sighing.  
  
"I'm so tired Minnie."  
  
Seonghwa whines and Minho gulps thickly, his hand twitching on his thigh. He so desperately wants to run his fingers through Seonghwa's hair and hold him close to himself.  
  
"And I missed you."  
  
He says and Minho feels like he would break down crying if he didn't have enough self-control. Seonghwa then lifts his head back up, looking at Minho with tired eyes and a smile on his face.  
  
"Wanna watch a movie? Order a pizza?"  
  
Minho laughs. They're almost twenty two and they still act like teenagers. And he wouldn't change a thing. He nods and Seonghwa moves so he can reach for his laptop and phone with a grin. After finally ordering and getting the pizza delivered, they choose a movie to watch.

They are done quickly and Seonghwa sets himself against Minho's side again, making his heartbeat quicken. Minho tries his best to calm down but Seonghwa is making way too difficult for him. Suddenly Seonghwa snuggles closer as he takes a slice from the pizza and Minho tenses up.

His phone then buzzes on the floor next to them and Minho looks over as Seonghwa groans.  
  
"Minnie..."  
  
Minho takes his phone, looking at the notification on his screen.  
  
**$an!: **hows it goin???????  
**$an!:** told him yet?????  
  
Minho smiles a little, ignoring the way Seonghwa shifts to face him. He likes that San still cares about him like that.  
  
**Hoe:** ofc not stupid  
**Hoe: **maybe in like 2 yrs lol  
  
**$an!:** ure an idiot  
  
**Hoe:** bish :(  
  
**$an!:** omg  
**$an!:** if you wont I will  
  
**Hoe:** dont you fvkin dare  
  
Minho makes a displeased noise when Seonghwa takes his phone from him, locking it and laying it in his lap. Minho looks at his face, his heart fluttering.

Seonghwa pouts up at him with a soft frown.  
  
"You're spending time with me, we haven't seen each other in three weeks..."  
  
He says sadly and Minho has to hold himself back from pinching the boy's cheeks. His own grow hot in the matter of seconds and he nods, being at a loss of words.  
  
This is going to be hard.

  
  
It's not even a month later that he's at Seonghwa's again, having him leaning against him with his phone in his hands and scrolling through Instagram, occasionally showing Minho photos of cute cats that he finds.  
  
They came home from work a few hours ago and all they did so far was go to the store to pick something up for dinner. Minho agreed on staying the night and catch up on some of the things he missed out on in Seonghwa's life. He was always interested in what was Seonghwa's life was like since he is a vocal instructor and told Minho only interesting stories from work.  
  
It's when Seonghwa rolls his head back and looks at Minho with a wide grin, that Minho feels a sudden burst of confidence. A sudden warmth in his stomach. He feels like he needs to tell Seonghwa his deepest secret, even if Seonghwa says he doesn’t see him the same, Minho needs to say it already.  
  
"I have to tell you something."  
  
He says shakily and Seonghwa's grin falls off his face because of the seriousness in Minho's tone. He nods and sits up, turning around to face him. Minho sighs, he doesn't actually know what to say, he doesn't want to walk around it, he never did, so he might as well just upright say it.  
  
"I love you."  
  
The older smiles, tilting his head to the side with warm eyes staring back at Minho.  
  
"Aw, I love you too."  
  
Minho frowns a little, clenching his fists. Hongjoong did say that it takes Seonghwa a moment to take in what's being said or get what it’s actually supposed to mean, and he knows it's not Seonghwa's fault, but he's mad at himself. Love is so difficult.

Sometimes he wishes he didn't have feelings, especially not for Seonghwa.  
  
"No you don't get it, I _love _you."  
  
There are tears pricking at the corners of Minho's eyes and he sniffles. Now it's Seonghwa's turn to frown. He looks confused and Minho hates that. He wishes he could put things more simply so Seonghwa would get it immediately.  
  
"Well I..." Seonghwa starts but the younger doesn't let him finish.  
  
"Hwa, please, I hope you don't find me weird now or anything like that, I just wanted to get this off my chest since I've felt like this for so long."  
  
He says, his previously clenched fists now tangled in his shirt. He doesn't like this. This is all too complicated, why are feelings always so hard to understand? All he really wants Seonghwa to say is _me too_ or _I don't feel the same_, he doesn't need more, he doesn't even expect Seonghwa to say he feels the same.  
  
"Minho."  
  
The boy whispers but Minho doesn't hear it. He's too focused on the mess that's going on in his head that he can't even bring himself to listen to what is happening in reality.  
  
"I'm sorry, you- you are just such a-"  
  
"Minho."  
  
Seonghwa repeats, louder and Minho finally looks up, glassy eyes gazing into Seonghwa's softer ones. Seonghwa moves closer, keeping his hands in his own lap.  
  
"Do you mean it?"  
  
He asks and Minho frowns, of course, why would Seonghwa even ask that? He nods slowly, trying hard to figure out what the older is feeling from his expressionless face.  
  
"Why wouldn't I?"  
  
"I don't know, I'm just making sure."  
  
Seonghwa says, voice rather joyful and slightly cocky. Suddenly his expression changes and he looks at Minho with a small smile. Minho frowns deeper, why doesn't _he_ understand this now and why does Seonghwa look so weird out of the blue.  
  
"Why?"  
  
He asks, confusion visible in his voice and facial expression. Seonghwa smiles almost sadly at him before taking a deep breath.  
  
"For a long time, I hoped that I wasn't the only one feeling this way."  
  
There's a moment of silence shared between them with Minho simply staring at Seonghwa with his mouth slightly agape as he tries to process the words that are being said to him. Seonghwa felt like that too? For how long? Why is this even more confusing than him not saying anything at all?  
  
"Wait you-"  
  
"Yeah, I do."  
  
Seonghwa nods and Minho gulps, letting the tears freely fall from his eyes and roll down his cheeks.  
  
"Really?"  
  
He asks through broken sobs and Seonghwa leans closer, wiping away the tears on his wet cheeks. The touch is familiar. The same amount of carefulness and softness just like when they first met. The same look in Seonghwa's eyes that Minho had when he helped him wipe the mess off his cheek.

Sympathy.

Understanding.

Warmth.

And now, love.  
  
"Of course, I wouldn't lie to you Minho."  
  
Seonghwa whispers, pressing his forehead against Minho's. Minho looks up into his eyes, more tears rolling down his face, but he doesn't care. Seonghwa likes him. He likes the same way he does.

Seonghwa then takes one of his hands, bringing it closer to their faces.

He looks into Minho's eyes as he intertwines their fingers, squeezing Minho's hand gently. He leans closer and Minho looks at him with half lidded eyes, hoping Seonghwa will do what he wants him to.

“Can I?“

Seonghwa whispers and Minho nods, his eyes fluttering close. He hums when the older leans in slowly, pressing their lips together.  
  
"Don't cry."  
  
He murmurs against his mouth and Minho nods with a little bit of difficulty. He almost melts from the feeling, the softness and slight cherry flavor quickly becoming addicting. But they can't stay like this forever, as much as he would love to.

Seonghwa then pulls back with Minho chasing after him blindly. He giggles and Minho opens his eyes, not being aware of closing them in the first place. He smiles at Seonghwa too, all the feelings finally being returned.

He can finally be happy again.

**Author's Note:**

> Talk to me on Twitter? (@ateezlvruwu)


End file.
